Another vape shop is set to open in the city centre – after the old Greenwoods unit was snapped up.
A sign in the window of the Hanley shop reveals E-Cig International is ‘coming soon’. Any immediate plans have been put on hold due to the second national lockdown which is due to finish on December 2.
It comes almost two years after Greenwoods closed its Stafford Street store following the retailer’s collapse into administration.
Now shoppers are concerned that vape shops are taking over Hanley.
Kev Warrilow, aged 42, of Bentilee, said: “Quite a few of these shops are opening – they seem to be all over the place.
“There are five places on Stafford Street where you can get them. There’s too many.”
The former Greenwoods unit forms part of the Moxon Island building which is now under new ownership. It is one of two empty units.
Big names and local independent operators currently operating within Moxon Island include The Works, Specsavers, Forbidden Planet, Schuropody, Central Store Newsagents, Rowfers and the PDSA charity shop.
According to foreign reports, Moody’s, a well-known bond rating agency, released a report that the operating profit of the global tobacco industry would rebound in 2021 after falling in 2020 and increase by 5% to 10% next year.
In a new report, the business and financial services company assessed the tobacco industry’s prospects in an unprecedented business environment. The main findings include:
The long-term impact of coronavirus on consumption is uncertain. Tobacco sales may decline as demand decreases or consumers move to lower priced products. But it can also speed up the transfer to alternative products, thus accelerating the transformation of the industry. Regulation may become more stringent, or regulators may delay the development of a regulatory framework with a higher risk ratio.
Although the dividend payout rate is very high and the economic growth slows down, the leverage ratio will continue to increase. Dividends will remain high and absorb most of the operating cash flow. But analysts at Moody’s expect the company to use free cash flow and available cash balances to repay outstanding debt.
Operating profit declined in 2020, but rebounded in 2021, maintaining a stable outlook. Despite the increased uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, analysts at Moody’s expect demand to remain fairly stable over the next two years. Some modest risks include lower tax-free sales, slower conversion of adult smokers to alternative products, disruption of manufacturing and supply chains, and increased currency volatility.
Cigarette sales continued to decline, but higher prices offset the impact. In the next 12-18 months, sales of traditional cigarettes in the United States will fall by 5-6%, and in the rest of the world (excluding China) by 2-3%. But the median single digit price increase will continue, which will offset the decline in sales.
Despite the attention of more regulators, sales of alternative products will continue to grow. Analysts at Moody’s expect sales growth for alternative products to slow this year, but gradually return to 2021. The market share of alternative products will remain stable in the short term, because the strict regulatory review of e-cigarettes and the temporary closure of iqos stores during the lock-in period may affect user access. Increasingly stringent regulation will create barriers for entrants and for the consolidation of existing market positions.
I wish I had found your website earlier as I made few mistakes with cig-a-likes in my attempts to give up the fags!!
From your reviews of box mods I purchased a Jacavapour Series B Tilt /Aero V2 combo and some JAC real tob light (12mg), sorted 🙂
However, a friend give me a vape of Boulevard by Wick Liqour from his Innokin iSub G, wow great stuff.
As the Aero tank was only 2.5ml, and with TPD coming, I decided to get an iSub (black) (looks wicked on the Tilt) and an Isub G with the new 2 ohm coils, Innokin also include a delrin drip tip to replace the wide sub ohm tip in the 5 pack.
So the Innokin iSub G tank was filled up with Space Jam, 2 ohm coil and power set to 10 W (Innokin recommended min) and the flavors/vapes are great. No changes required.
The iSub black was filled with the Jacvapour Real Tobacco Lite, 2 ohm, power set at 10W and initial flavor/vapes were good, but soon the flavor diminished to a woody aftertaste.
I changed the coil, refilled, but similar flavor loss occurred again.
I noticed that the iSub coils are really fast on the button, only c.2-2.5 seconds firing required for good vape.
The Kanger Aero requiring c.4-5 secs to achieve similar with 1.8 ohm coils. Are the iSub coils burning the JAC low VG (20%) juice with their fast heat up?
I have varied the power from 8 to 12W, and air flow from max to min to max etc. to try to find the spot but to no avail.
Do the iSub coil prefer a higher VG content juice?
The SJ is 50/50. I want to try the Black Note e juice but do not want to spend £20 to taste a bit like a camp fire!
Any thoughts/help with the JAC juice/iSub coil dilemma would be greatly appreciated.
Rgds DC
Answer
Hey David,
Great stuff on the Jacvapour Series B Tilt, great little mod!
OK, your problem is a tough one, as you are no doubt already aware the different variables when it comes to vaping is crazy.
So a few things that may be contributing to the issue, apologies if these seem basic as you do seem to have good vaping experience, but here goes anyway!
First up I wouldn’t think your PG/VG ratio should have too much baring on the vape with the iSub coil. As long as enough time has been allowed to wick sufficiently it shouldn’t burn at the right wattage.
Burnt coils – If you fired the device on a dry coil (Coil not primed) for even a short amount of time then your cotton may be burnt. No amount of switching settings will get rid of this taste. Only option is to replace coil or remove and replace cotton (which is possible in iSub tanks).
Priming the coils touched on above – Leaving juice to soak for 5 mins before firing up device. Also a couple of drips directly to the coil before screwing tank on.
Check coils for any residue machine oil – Not a common thing but MAY sometimes make things taste nasty
Vapers tongue – Can happen when vaping the same e liquid for a long time. Try switching up juices (or a cup of black coffee sometimes does it for me to reset the taste buds). Or taking a break from a specific flavor for a while. Vaping aniseed or menthol vapes can also clear the palette.
Have you tried the juices in the opposite isub tanks ie: the Jac in the iSub Glass and the Space Jam in the polycarbonate tank?
Again, shouldn’t have too much of a change but worth checking out.
Let me know on the above, I’d say the main one would be allowing the juice to wick for 5-10 minutes before firing up but I have a feeling you would have done that.
I’m still racking my brains to see what else could be causing the issue!
Cheers
Jonny
Reply From Ecigclick Reader
Hi Jonny,
Many thanks for your reply to my queries.
I followed the iSub instructions within 3 drops into the coil, and then waiting about 45 mins before use. I previously burnt a coil with too much power (experimenting) and got an acrid horrid burnt taste, different to the ‘woody’ experience.
You are correct in stating that vaping is a strange art with so many variables, here is one that proves it!
I have been doing a bit of mixology. I have been putting some JAC menthol into the JAC RTL, as I used to be partial to the occasional menthol ciggy.
Started at 50% menthol then cut that down to 25%. This gave a tobacco noted inhale and a cool menthol exhale.
I then poured about 1ml of this mix out of the kanger tank into the RTL in the iSub tank.
This gave approx a 10% menthol mix in the iSub, and amazingly the tobacco notes were back with a cool exhale, no more harsh woody tastes!
This is all on the same coil, so maybe it has settled down a bit too.
I had been using the Real Tobacco Lite in the small Kanger tank for 3 months, at 8.5W -1.8Ohm, battery life 9 days!!!
So was not firing it up properly and hence not getting a good vape. Working the iSub at min 10W, with its larger 2 ohm coil, produces much more vapor and with the ‘vapers tongue’ that you mention was probably also the cause of the strange taste that I was getting when changing set-ups.
I have ordered an Innokin Coolfire 4, from your review, so I don’t have to keep swapping tanks to get all my flavours. Black iSub on Tilt looks wicked though.
Rgds DC
Answer
Hey David,
It looks sweet doesn’t it! I need to dig my Series B / iSub black back out! 🙂
Good stuff, yeah vaping is all about playing around with different variables, luckily you don’t mind doing that to find your sweet spot!
Many give up first time as if they aren’t happy with the results which is a shame.
I used to mix flavors a good few years back when the options were limited but I tend to have too many juices sent for review to get through nowadays to experiment fully. Might just have to get back into it though.
The good thing about the iSub as well is that there are different coil heads available as I’m sure you are aware! The coils are also compatible with the various iSub tanks available.
You might want to try some of the iSub Clapton coils further down the line, I find the flavor to be great with these. Maybe more suited to ‘flavors’ as opposed to tobacco vapes though.
This is sub ohm vaping (juice drinking) territory, so if you are going for Black Note probably not a good idea sub ohm vaping that gear 🙂
Let me know how you get on and glad you sorted the funky taste out!
POLITICIANS are calling for Parliament to set an example to British smokers by becoming more “vape friendly”.
MPs are hoping for a rule change which would stop e-cigarette users being treated like tobacco smokers at government buildings in London.
Vapers are currently forced to use designated outdoor areas alongside smokers in the Houses of Parliament which has been described as non sensical and like “putting an alcoholic into a bar” at a committee hosted by MP Norman Lamb.
The call for a more vape friendly Parliament came at a special committee which coincided with last month’s public health campaign VApril, which encouraged smokers to make the switch to e-cigarettes for a month.
During the debate, a number of anti-smoking and pro-vaping groups spoke to MPs to talk about the current state of the vaping industry and plans for its future – one of which was to encourage vaping in Parliament itself.
John Dunne, director of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said: “We have talked about public health leading by example. I know this subject has come up at an APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) in this very building. There is an opportunity for Government and this House to show the way forward. For instance, there are two areas in this building where you can vape. Most of the Members who came to the APPG did not even know where those places were and they had been here for many years.
He added: “Pushing vapers into an area with smokers is like putting an alcoholic into a bar. It just does not make sense, but the Government and this House have an opportunity to show the way forward.”
MP Mark Pawsey added to the debate by saying: “Even in our own Parliament vapers are treated the same as smokers, forced into outdoor areas far removed from their places of work. It is time we practice what we preach and make Parliament ‘vape friendly’. That is why we are seeking to change the rules in Parliament so we can set an example to the public and businesses across the country.”
While a decision is yet to be made, the committee organisers of the VApril Challenge reported its inaugural year had been a success, with close to 1000 smokers making the switch to vaping.
Those signed up to take the challenge were encouraged to take up a VApril Masterclass offered by UKVIA members in a total of 58 stores across 11 cities in the UK. Further afield VApril reached over 2 million users on social media and its message spread internationally across countries including South Africa, America, New Zealand and Australia as well as a number of countries across Asia.
VApril came after evidence recently published by Public Health England, highlighted that vaping is likely to be at least 95% less harmful than smoking and that there are substantial health benefits from completely switching from conventional cigarettes to e-cigarettes.
Six Licks have brought out a new flavour for us all, and in the midst of a nationwide lockdown along with all the uncertainty we face in this time, brought some much needed happiness to my day when I found out! Better still, it arrived super quick thanks to the lovely folks over at E-liquids.com!
What’s better than Six Licks releasing a brand new flavour!? Well i’d say getting a free 10ml sample of “Berried Alive” for absolutely free! Which is what I took advantage of at e-liquids.com who kindly gave away 5,000 free samples of Berried Alive recently.
Six Licks has been at the forefront of the UK e-liquid scene for a few years now, and I have been a massive fan of every single juice they’ve released while enjoying their stock rise amongst the vaping community. They just seem to bring a certain complexity to their formulations without sacrificing quality! Berried Alive is no exception. I’ve been vaping this for nearly a week and the flavour hasn’t dropped off like most e-liquids I vape for an extended period of time.
So what does it taste like? Like flavour heaven is what I’d say.
“Berried Alive” is a tantalizing mix of Strawberry, Guava and Watermelon. It seems to provide new and exciting takes on the flavour profile with every single hit – and I can’t get enough of it. I get a luscious mix of Strawberry and tropical Guava notes on the inhale, and as you breath out a refreshing hit of Watermelon tops the blend off perfectly! The Strawberry notes at times border on candied fruit, and the tropical Guava mid-notes don’t fluctuate no matter how much you vape it! It truly is a masterful fruit blend that combines tropical taste and a fresh feeling!
I will most certainly be adding this to my list of mainstay e-liquids, and I’m sure many others will too when they get to try this e-liquid.
You can find “Berried Alive” at your local Six Licks stockist which you can find at sixlicks.com or purchase online at e-liquids.com, you won’t be disappointed when you do!
50ml bottles are just £12.99 and if you prefer a 100ml option those are priced at £18.99.
Cannabis legalization has been a hot topic during the 2020 election, and many are anecdotally reported to be optimistic towards the industry’s development in the upcoming reign of Biden.
While we are focusing on the process of cannabis legalization in the U.S., there are also many other counties that has made progress in their domestic legalization and begin to embrace the life with cannabis. Below are the latest news of global cannabis legalization happened recently.
Cannabis Reform Bill Is Advancing in the Mexico’s Legislature
Cannabis Reform Bill Is Advancing in the Mexico’s Legislature – vapebiz
On November 22, 2020, the Mexican Senate passed a bill containing a draft federal law for the regulation of cannabis (the “Cannabis Law”). The bill includes amendments to the General Health Law and the Federal Criminal Code and is amended by a helpful Annex. The Cannabis Law is being sent to the Mexican Lower Chamber (Cámara de Diputados) for discussion and hopefully, approval. This is very big news for the Mexican cannabis industry.
After passing the Senate by a vote of 82 to 18, the bill was formally transmitted to the other body of the nation’s Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, this week, and has been referred to several committees there.
The proposal, which was circulated in draft form earlier this month, would establish a regulated cannabis market in Mexico, allowing adults 18 and older to purchase and possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants for personal use.
It “seeks to regulate the use of cannabis and its derivatives, under the approach of public health, human rights and sustainable development, to prevent and combat the consequences of the problematic use of psychoactive cannabis and to contribute to the reduction of the crime incidence linked to drug trafficking,” the Chamber’s Board of Directors said in an announcement about receiving the legislation, according to a translation.
Mexico’s president said on November 27 that the bill to legalize marijuana nationwide that was approved by the Senate last week is “part of carrying out a revolution of consciences, where each of us is responsible for his actions.”
Cannabis Is Allowed to Use in Cosmetic and Food in Thailand
Cannabis Is Allowed to Use in Cosmetic and Food in Thailand – vapebiz
On November 26, 2020, the health permanent secretary said the government plans to allow use of most parts of cannabis and hemp plants in food and cosmetics on Wednesday.
Kiattiphum Wongrajit said the Narcotics Control Committee resolved on Tuesday to exclude the leaves, branches, stems, trunks, bark, fibre and roots of cannabis and hemp from the government’s narcotics list. This would not include shoots, including flowers, which have high drug content.
Thailand has used marijuana as a spice and herbal remedy for centuries. But, it hasn’t been until recently that they’ve made their cannabis laws so lax.
Thailand is the first South-East Asian country to legalize medical marijuana for patients. The government issues certificates for patients who are approved to consume cannabis for medicinal purposes. When Thailand passed this law in 2019, the government started taking an interest in the marijuana industry and moving toward legalization.
Malawi Is Poised to Produce Cannabis for Industrial and Medicinal Use
Malawi Is Poised to Produce Cannabis for Industrial and Medicinal Use – vapebiz
Malawi is ready to start commercial production and processing of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use, the southern African country’s new Cannabis Regulatory Authority said on November 24, 2020.
Malawi’s parliament passed a bill in February that makes it legal to cultivate and process cannabis for medicines and hemp fibre used in industry, but stops short of decriminalising recreational use.
A growing number of countries around the world are either legalizing or relaxing laws on cannabis as attitudes towards the drug change. They include several in southern Africa, including Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Maltese Company Is about to Produce Medical Cannabis in Uzbekistan
Maltese Company Is about to Produce Medical Cannabis in Uzbekistan – vapebiz
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade signed a memorandum with the Maltese company Melabis on the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes, the state news agency UzA reported On November 26, 2020.
It is initially planned to grow medical cannabis on 500 hectares in the Sardoba district of the Syrdarya region, and the cannabis plantation will increase to 3,000 hectares in the coming three years, said the UzA, citing the regional administration’s press service.
Uzbekistan amended its laws earlier this year, allowing cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes under a government license.
But what about vaping? Can a pregnant woman use e cigarettes without worrying about damaging her unborn baby?
Of course, quitting altogether is the best way to go but in the real world, this isn’t so easy for many smokers, pregnant or not. As has been proved time and time again.
I can remember waiting for my grandson to be born outside the hospital and reeling in horror as three women staggered out, each ready to burst at any second with one lady hooked up to a drip on a trolley.
All three lit up fags without a care in the world. I have to admit being more than a little shocked, to say the least.
E Cigs As An Alternative To Smoking During Pregnancy
As the use of e-cigs continues to grow in popularity a leaflet offered to Midwives and produced by the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group – suggests women who find it difficult, if not impossible, to quit smoking should try vaping as an alternative.
They report that 11% of mothers smoked cigarettes at the time of delivery in 2015 with up to 26% of pregnant women admitting to smoking in certain areas of the country.
They suggest:
“While licensed NRT (nicotine replacement products) products are the recommended option, if a pregnant woman chooses to use an electronic cigarette and if that helps her to stay smoke-free, she should not be discouraged from doing so”
I have to say this is a brilliant leaflet and one that should be made available to the wider public and indeed anyone concerned about smoking whilst pregnant.
It points out that whilst e-cigarettes and vaping cannot be classed as a completely safer alternative to smoking, evidence strongly suggests it is indeed 95% safer and vaping does not produce carbon monoxide or indeed other chemicals that tobacco provides.
Nicotine in cigarettes and e cigarettes have been the cause for much debate in terms of how harmful it actually is. The Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group approach this in a non-alarmist fashion that is so often read about in sensationalist reports:
“The great majority of the harm from smoking comes from inhaling tobacco smoke which contains around 4000 chemicals, a significant number of which are toxic.
While it is nicotine that makes tobacco so addictive, it is relatively harmless. Nicotine replacement therapy is widely used to help people stop smoking and is a safe form of treatment, including during pregnancy.”
The Myth of Passive Vaping
They add that the effects on others by so-called ‘passive vaping’ carries a fraction of the risk.
“Although not completely risk free, electronic cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of smoking for users, with no known risks to bystanders”
The leaflet urges pregnant women to seek professional support and advice from their GPs and smoke free clinics as well as their local vape shop which I think is a remarkable vote of confidence in vaping as a way of giving up the dreaded fags!
The Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group have taken a sensible approach, using the facts they have to hand, in recommending vaping as a way to help pregnant smokers quit cigarettes. The report offers pregnant women that smoke solid information on which to make an informed decision.
“However, if they (pregnant women) choose to use an electronic cigarette and this helps them to quit and stay smoke-free, it is safer for both them and their unborn baby than continuing to smoke”
I’m sure we can all agree quitting smoking and/or vaping altogether would undoubtedly be the safest way to go for pregnant women. So this report shouldn’t be used an excuse not stop any of the above while pregnant.
You can download the full leaflet HERE – pass it on.
Researchers Kevin Tan and Douglas C. Smith, found that those teens who are less satisfied with their lives and seek out risky and exciting experiences are the ones more likely to use multiple illicit substances regularly, including nicotine via e-cigarettes. Additionally, found the study, the participants’ attitude towards vaping also reflected how they viewed other substances.
“Polysubstance users” scored the highest in sensation seeking
Those who considered vaping to be relatively harmless, were more likely to smoke, drink and use other drugs. Referred to “polysubstance users” by the researchers, these teens scored the highest on sensation seeking. Tan and Smith are professors of social work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where Smith is also the director of the Center for Prevention Research and Development.
Polysubstance users comprised about 4% of the study sample, while a second group of teens, who were primarily marijuana users, but also dabbled with cigarettes or e-cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs, comprised about another 24%.
“Students who scored the highest on sensation-seeking viewed substance use as less harmful than did peers who were low-level users that mostly abstained from drinking, smoking and using drugs,” said lead study author Tan.
“While the high school years are typically a time during which risk-taking and sensation-seeking peak, our results indicate that there are marked differences in sensation-seeking among students who regularly use substances compared with those who don’t.”
“Our results reveal that perceptions of e-cigarette use are associated with all patterns of polysubstance use,” said Smith. “Health education messages discouraging vaping should continue to be disseminated, given the increasing appeal and broad accessibility of these products among high school students.”
Most teens were low level users
Polysubstance users comprised about 4% of the study sample, while a second group of teens, who were primarily marijuana users, but also dabbled with cigarettes or e-cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs, comprised about another 24%. The remaining 72% of teens in the sample were low-level users.
“We need more research on the true health effects of vaping, because the prevalence of it is way ahead of our knowledge about the consequences,” continued Smith. “Although e-cigarettes were initially marketed as devices to help smokers quit, that argument probably only applies to a small percentage of young people. In fact, there are risks to vaping, and for teens, e-cigarettes may be an initiation into nicotine addiction or into vaping marijuana.”
Numerous factors involved in teen vaping
Other recent studies found that personality factors (high neuroticism), curiosity and the “cool factor” played a main role in enticing teenagers to initiate vaping. This reflects arguments by tobacco harm reduction experts who have long been pointing out that the existence of flavours is not the main cause of teen vaping and that those likely to vape would be smoking in the absence of the safer alternatives.
According to foreign reports, the UK’s e-cigarette store will officially open this week, the first time it has opened since the country entered the blockade in March due to a new crown. E-cigarette users must adapt to the new layout of the local e-cigarette store.
E-cigarette retailers will follow the guidance of the government to ensure the safety of customers as much as possible. For example, the plexiglass screen of the sales counter, the sun visor warned by the retail staff and the limit on the number of customers in each store are the new features of the electronic cigarette store.
Doug mutter, head of manufacturing and compliance at vpz, one of the UK’s largest independent e-cigarette chains, said: ‘we have been very busy installing all the necessary measures so that we can fully comply with government guidance to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.
‘we ask our customers to be patient because we follow the guidance of alienation and sometimes limit the number of customers who store at one time,’ he said. We also encourage card payment (preferably non-contact), and we also delete all test and equipment samples so that nothing can be touched and delivered, but our trained personnel will continue to provide comprehensive advice.
Andrej kuttruf, chief executive of evapo, an e-cigarette retailer with 37 stores in the UK, said: ‘our store will be open between 10 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. six days a week. We have hand sanitizers for customers, masks and gloves for store teams and floor liners to show social distance. Our store team will wear helmets, and we will sell a variety of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers to the public.
In addition to the introduction of floor markings for social distance, the erection of screens and the removal of test boxes, Oxford vapors also displays large information graphics based on NHS recommendations for the benefits of e-cigarettes and general information about e-cigarettes. The company also provides customers with personal protective equipment free of charge for use in stores.
One of the benefits of e-cigarette stores is that they offer professional advice to smokers and e-cigarette users who want to quit smoking, says owner Dan greenAll. Putting such suggestions on our walls will help with this process in a new store environment.
Ecigwizard, which has 54 stores in the UK, has also been busy decorating its signs and equipping its employees with personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves.
The store also provides other cleaning products and hand disinfectants, as well as clear instructions for adding cleaning at key contact points. In the process that the company is looking for feasible alternative methods to provide test samples that can reduce cross contamination, testers from all stores have been removed from the workshop.
John Dunne, director of the UK Electronic Cigarette Industry Association (ukvia), commented that the industry was very agile and resourceful and had to transition to an online business model overnight at first, when the store had to be closed during the lock-in period and then restarted, which was a very different operating environment.
He said the industry has spent a long time preparing for the new government guidance on social distance in stores, which means customers can shop at the local e-cigarette store at ease.
A ban on cigarette vending machines is expected to go into effect in 2022.
This measure is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at reducing local smoking rates. Last month a plain packaging regulation went into effect, forcing all cigarette manufacturers to sell cigarettes in identical brown packaging. Moreover, tobacco prices have been hiked by almost 20% this year, with the final aim being the price of €10 per packet of cigarettes.
Supermarkets are believed to contribute to 55% of all tobacco sales in the Netherlands, and the supermarket ban is expected to remove about 11,000 of the current 16,000 tobacco vending points in the country, said the government. Before that, a ban on cigarette vending machines is expected to go into effect in 2022.
“This will prevent a lot of unnecessary deaths and medical suffering,” said deputy health minister Paul Blokhuis in a statement.
Flavour ban
Last Summer, the Dutch government banned fruit and candy e-cig flavours, allowing only tobacco flavours on the market. In a letter to Parliament, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health said that tobacco flavours are being exempted so that smokers could continue using e-cigarettes as smoking cessation tools.
“All kinds of organizations are working very hard to make it harder to start smoking and easier to quit. This is also urgently needed because it remains unacceptable that 20 thousand people die in our country every year from the effects of smoking and about 75 children start smoking every day,” said Blokhuis.
This measure came in response to a report by the Trimbos Institute, which concluded that e-cigarettes are more harmful than expected and that public health would benefit by discouraging its use. In line with arguments by most public health and harm reduction entities, the institute advised limiting the use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation tools to smokers who are unable to quit via other means.
“The new insights confirm that the smoke-free generation that is on its way must also be an e-cigarette free generation. There is no room for e-cigarettes with all kinds of seductive, exotic flavors in this,” said State Secretary Blokius. Sadly, the State Secretary is ignoring the fact that flavours have been crucial at encouraging adult smokers to switch to the safer alternatives, and that therefore flavour bans are counterproductive at reducing smoking rates.
